Selector device for selecting envelope flaps with a view to moistening them

ABSTRACT

A device for separating flaps in a feeder of a mail handling machine, said device comprising blower means disposed under a conveyor table for conveying the mail items through the feeder, which blower means generate a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flap, and said conveyor table for conveying the mail items is spaced apart from a referencing wall by a distance D equal to at least the largest width of flap to be stuck down by a moistener device of the feeder, and over a length L equal to at least the largest length of flap to be stuck down by said moistener device.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates exclusively to the field of mail handling, and it relates more particularly to a selector device for selecting envelope flaps that is incorporated in a feeder module for feeding mail items into a mail handling machine.

PRIOR ART

French Patent Application No. 2 833 885, filed in the Applicant's name, discloses a device for moistening envelope flaps that is designed to be incorporated into a feeder module for feeding envelopes into a franking machine or “postage meter”, and that includes a separator for separating the flap of the envelope from the body of the envelope, and suction means disposed immediately in front of the separator so as to co-operate with a presser finger to press the envelope towards said suction means and to detach the flap from the body of the envelope, and thus to make it easier for it to pass under the separator.

That device is generally satisfactory for all types of envelope. However, after a very large number of envelopes have passed through it, a certain amount of slackening occurs in the pressure exerted by the presser finger. In particular, when a previously closed envelope has its flap improperly stuck down and partially open, the front of said flap behaves like an open flap and is inserted under the separator until it encounters the start of a stuck-down zone that blocks its progress and thus causes a jam in the feeder module.

A solution for avoiding such jamming is given by French Patent Application No. 2 850 323, also filed in the Applicant's name, and that discloses a separator in which the active separation zone is formed by a flexible portion that has a peripheral edge disposed at the level of the envelope conveyor table. With that configuration, closed envelopes whose envelopes are improperly stuck down are handled without jamming or tearing and without any action from an operator, and the envelopes to be closed (envelopes having folded-down flaps, or “nested” envelopes having open flaps) whose flaps are separated from their bodies always remain properly guided under the separator. Unfortunately, when the envelope feed rate is high, e.g. higher than 15,000 envelopes per hour, the flexibility of the end of the separator is not, however, sufficient to avoid certain jams.

Another solution is given by French Patent Application No. 06 50338, filed in the Applicant's name, and that discloses a separator whose active separation zone is formed by a sharp cutting portion. With that other separator configuration, the closed envelopes whose flaps are improperly stuck-down are also handled without jamming, and the other envelopes continue to be properly guided as before. Unfortunately, the envelopes whose flaps have been cut open can often be re-closed correctly over only the short portions of their lengths that were not previously stuck down.

OBJECT AND DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is thus to provide a selector device for selecting envelope flaps for a feeder of a mail handling machine that avoids any jamming resulting from improperly closed envelopes, and that guarantees that all of the envelopes are closed correctly. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that makes it possible to feed envelopes at a very high handling rate.

These objects are achieved by a device for separating flaps in a feeder of a mail handling machine, said device comprising blower means disposed under a conveyor table for conveying the mail items through the feeder, which blower means generate a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flap, and said conveyor table for conveying the mail items is spaced apart from a referencing wall by a distance D equal to at least the largest width of flap to be stuck down by a moistener device of the feeder, and over a length L equal to at least the largest length of flap to be stuck down by said moistener device.

Thus, by totally releasing the flap from the body of the envelope and by pressing the flap released in this way against the vertical referencing wall, the causes of jamming and of creasing of the flaps are reduced. In addition, it is no longer necessary to sort the mail items on the basis of whether or not they should be moistened.

Preferably, said blower means comprise at least one turbine for blowing ambient air through an air dispenser duct, an outlet opening of said duct having a flattened profile that is substantially triangular and that is adapted to delivering a glancing flow of air under the body of the envelope.

Advantageously, said vertical referencing wall is provided with a stationary deflector for co-operating with a moistener body having a complementary shape to fold the flap in from a vertical position obtained by said blower means to an inclined position suitable for enabling said flap to be moistened by said moistener device.

The invention also provides a feeder module for feeding mail items into a mail handling machine, which feeder includes an envelope flap separator device as defined above.

The invention also provides a method of separating flaps in a feeder of a mail handling machine, in which method the flap of an envelope is separated from the body of the envelope by totally releasing the flap from the body of the envelope and by pressing the flap released in this way against a vertical referencing wall of the feeder by means of a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flap.

Preferably, said total release of the flap is obtained by making provision for a conveyor table for conveying the mail items through the feeder to be spaced apart from said referencing wall by a distance D equal to at least the largest width of flap to be stuck down by a moistener device of the feeder, and over a length L equal to at least the largest length of flap to be stuck down by said moistener device. Said distance D may lie in the range 50 mm to 100 mm, and said length L may lie in the range 230 mm to 334 mm.

Advantageously, said flow of air is generated by blower means disposed under said conveyor table for conveying the mail items.

In a particular implementation, said vertical referencing wall is provided with a stationary deflector for co-operating with a moistener body having a complementary shape to fold the flap in from a vertical position obtained by said blower means to an inclined position suitable for enabling said flap to be moistened by said moistener device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The characteristics and advantages of the present invention appear more clearly from the following description given by way of non-limiting indication and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view from above of a feeder including a flap separator device of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the blower and fold-in means implemented in the flap separator device of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view on the plane III-III of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view from above of a mail item feeder module designed to be disposed at the inlet of a mail handling machine. Such a module can naturally also be incorporated directly into said machine.

The mail items 10 that can be handled by the module are of all types (handling in “mixed mail” mode), in particular envelopes having flaps open at 90° (also referred to as “nested” envelopes), envelopes having folded-down flaps that are to be closed, or indeed envelopes having closed flaps. But the mail items can also be mere documents (e.g. A4-format documents), business cards or calling cards, postcards, labels, or inserts of various formats and thicknesses and on which a postal imprint is then printed directly.

Conventionally, a feeder module comprises four work zones in succession from upstream to downstream: a reception and storage zone 12 for receiving mail items and for storing them in a stack; an extraction and selection zone for extracting and selecting the mail items one-by-one, only the last row 14 of the bottom selector rollers of this zone being shown; a flap separation zone 16 for separating the flap 10A of the envelope from the body 10B of the envelope; and a moistening zone 18 for moistening the flap once said flap 10A has been separated from the body 10B of the envelope. The moistening is, for example, performed by means of a bank of moistener jets, or of a brush 18A whose end rests on the surface of a reservoir of water 18B disposed under a conveyor table 20 for conveying the mail items through the feeder module. A flap is then moistened as it passes between the brush and the reservoir, and the closed envelopes must naturally not be moistened on going over the brushes carried by the body of the moistener 18C whose top surface is aligned with the conveyor table.

Drive means, conventionally constituted by rollers 22 that emerge through the conveyor table 20, make it possible to convey the envelopes during the stages of separating and of moistening the envelope flaps, and then to convey them to the next module of the mail handling machine, which module is, in principle, the franking module (not shown). In general, the inlet rollers of the franking module act as means for closing the previously moistened envelopes, unless the feeder module has, at its outlet, its own closure means.

In accordance with the invention, the flap separation zone is not provided with a separator element, the envelope flaps being separated merely by a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flaps, coming from blower means 24 disposed under the conveyor table, and that causes only the flaps of envelopes that have flaps that are folded down but not yet stuck down to be folded out at 90° against a referencing wall, the flaps of nested envelopes already being open at 90° (and in place in a groove extending along said referencing wall). Said flow of air has no effect on envelopes that are already closed, which envelopes are directed above the moistening zone, regardless of whether they are closed fully or partially, i.e. over only a fraction of the length of the envelope, e.g. over ⅔ of the said length.

In order to enable the flap to be folded out at 90°, said flap must not be engaged with drive rollers, and in particular must no longer be in contact with the selector rollers 14. Also, it must be no longer resting on the conveyor table 20. That is why, in accordance with the invention, the selection zone must have a length L that is at least equal to the length of an envelope of the DL international format (including a margin of 10 millimeters (mm)), i.e. about 230 mm, and preferably lying in the range 230 mm to 334 mm, the upper dimension of the range corresponding to an envelope of C4 format, including a margin of 10 mm, and the conveyor table 20 is spaced apart from the referencing wall by a distance D at least equal to the largest width of a flap corresponding to a triangular flap of a large-format envelope, i.e. about 100 mm and preferably lying in the range 50 mm to 100 mm. It can be understand that these dimensions are essentially a function of the type of envelopes handled by the machine.

As shown more precisely in FIG. 2, the blower means are advantageously constituted by two individual turbines or fans 26, 28 serving, under the action of a control unit (not shown), to blow ambient air separately into two air dispenser ducts 30, 32. The outlet opening 30A, 32A of each duct has a flattened profile that is substantially triangular and that is suitable for delivering a glancing flow of air under the body of the envelope that is directed towards the inside of the flap. The two outlet openings are offset vertically, the duct that is closer to the moistening zone being disposed slightly lower for reasons of compactness.

The feeder whose flap separation zone is modified in accordance with the invention operates as follows. The envelopes extracted one-by-one from the stack, regardless of whether or not they are open or closed, are then, as they advance into the separation zone 16, subjected to the blower means 24 that cause the flap of each of the non-stuck-down envelopes to open at 90° and that cause said flap to be pressed against the referencing wall 26. Once completely open, a shaped-profile stationary deflector 34 that is shaped in the form of a delta wing that is fastened to or that forms a portion of said referencing wall makes it possible, in co-operation with the bottom face of the body 18C of the moistener that has a complementary profile, to guide the flaps of these envelopes and of the nested envelopes and to fold them in progressively from the positions at 90° in which they then find themselves, to a terminal position close to 30° enabling them to pass under the moist brush of the moistener and thus to be moistened under the best possible conditions (see FIG. 3). It should be noted that, with an envelope having its flap improperly closed, the flow of air is not sufficient to detach the flap which remains stuck to the body of the envelope, which then passes above the body of the moistener in the same way as a closed envelope does, without causing any jamming.

It should be noted that although the above-described blower means are constituted by two independent turbines, it is naturally possible to imagine using a single turbine only, provided that that turbine generates a flow of air that is sufficiently wide to fold out the flaps of the envelopes at 90° and to keep them open at 90°. 

1. A method of separating flaps in a feeder of a mail handling machine, in which method the flap of an envelope is separated from the body of the envelope by totally releasing the flap from the body of the envelope and by pressing the flap released in this way against a vertical referencing wall of the feeder by means of a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flap.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said total release of the flap is obtained by making provision for a conveyor table for conveying the mail items through the feeder to be spaced apart from said referencing wall by a distance D equal to at least the largest width of flap to be stuck down by a moistener device of the feeder, and over a length L equal to at least the largest length of flap to be stuck down by said moistener device.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said distance D lies in the range 50 mm to 100 mm.
 4. A method according to claim 2, wherein said length L lies in the range 230 mm to 334 mm.
 5. A method according to claim 2, wherein said flow of air is generated by blower means disposed under said conveyor table for conveying the mail items.
 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said vertical referencing wall is provided with a stationary deflector for co-operating with a moistener body having a complementary shape to fold the flap in from a vertical position obtained by said blower means to an inclined position suitable for enabling said flap to be moistened by said moistener device.
 7. A device for separating flaps in a feeder of a mail handling machine, said device comprising blower means disposed under a conveyor table for conveying the mail items through the feeder, which blower means generate a flow of air directed towards the inside of the flap, and said conveyor table for conveying the mail items is spaced apart from a referencing wall by a distance D equal to at least the largest width of flap to be stuck down by a moistener device of the feeder, and over a length L equal to at least the largest length of flap to be stuck down by said moistener device.
 8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said blower means comprise at least one turbine for blowing ambient air through an air dispenser duct, an outlet opening of said duct having a flattened profile that is substantially triangular and that is adapted to delivering a glancing flow of air under the body of the envelope.
 9. A device according to claim 7, wherein said vertical referencing wall is provided with a stationary deflector for co-operating with a moistener body having a complementary shape to fold the flap in from a vertical position obtained by said blower means to an inclined position suitable for enabling said flap to be moistened by said moistener device.
 10. A feeder module for feeding mail items into a mail handling machine, which feeder includes an envelope flap separator device according to claim
 7. 